Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2638, the Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act.

Traveling with infants is often stressful on new mothers and new fathers. I think back to when I was a young mom traveling with my sons, Chris and Sam, and now traveling with their wives, who just blessed us with our sixth grandchild, and to all moms and dads across the country who face the distinct challenges of traveling with their babies, let alone babies plus a sibling who could be a toddler, which is often the case.

This bill helps to lessen anxiety when traveling and allows mothers to have a quiet private space to care for their young ones. I introduced similar legislation, H.R. 3362, earlier this year to help accomplish this goal, and I am pleased to see this issue brought to a vote today.

As air travel continues to be one of the most preferred and popular means of transportation, we need to make sure that airport infrastructure is properly updated to fit the needs of American mothers and fathers and American families.

S. 2638 would require small hub airports to construct mothers' rooms, which are areas where mothers can nurse their children in privacy, rather than a restroom. Think how disgusting that would be. Moms know that there is nothing comforting or nurturing about nursing a baby in an unsanitary condition of an airport bathroom.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 required all large and medium hub airports to construct mothers' rooms by 2021. This bill would help fill the remaining gap and similarly require small hub airports to install mothers' rooms, extending the coverage to 97 percent of all travelers.

With the pandemic, travel has become even more difficult, so the timing of this bill couldn't be more appropriate because it emphasizes the need for Congress to come together to pass bipartisan support in the COVID crisis, without which our airports may continue to be empty.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support S. 2638, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as stated, the aim of this bill, ensuring that mothers and families with young children have proper facilities while traveling, is a need that is long overdue, and it is high time that we fix it.

I have a personal story. In the 1980s, I was traveling with my husband and my two sons. One was in diapers, and one was a toddler. I handed the one in diapers to my husband when I realized that the baby needed to be changed. He took the baby and the paraphernalia with him to the men's restroom to take care of the baby.

When he comes back, he hands me a child who is crying, looks at his mommy, and reaches out. My husband goes: I did the best I could with what I had.

Well, he went into a bathroom that had sinks lined up on the wall, so he had to place the baby on top of two sinks to take care of business. I will leave the rest up to you, but we did do the best we could.

Thank the Lord, we are now going to be in modern times and take care of families the way they should be, having the appropriate things in both bathrooms.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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